Fence-building apparatus.



I No. 772,810. PATENTED OCT. 18, 1904. W. P. LINDSEY & w. H. FINLEY.

FENCE BUILDING APPARATUS.

N0 MODEL.

' I memtow W 7 4 z'na sey- I No. 772,810.

UNITED STATES I Patented October 18, 1904. PATENT ()F IcE.

- WILLIAM F. LINDSEY AND WILLIA M H; FINLEY, OF SAMOTH, ILLINOIS I v 'FENCE-BUILDINGAPPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 772,810, dated October 18, 1904.

Application filed April 2 1, 1903. Serial No. 154,068. (No model.)

- To all whom it may concern;

may be used in building fences of two kinds viz., the style of fence in which strand-wires are arranged in pairs and palings or slats are disposed between the wires, the wires I between the palings being twisted to cause the wires to closely hug the palings and hold them in place, and the style which consists of tightly-stretched wires secured to posts the device providing means for attaching thereto the pairs of wires of the first form and for stretching the strand-wires of the second form and being so constructed that a sin vgle upright or support sufiices for both the wire stretching and fastening means.

In the drawings forming a portion of this specification, and in which like numerals of reference 1nd1cate simllar parts in the several views, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a panel of fence in course of construction, showing the present apparatus in positionat one end thereof. .Fig. 2 is a section on line 2 2 of Fig. 1. of Fig. 1.

. Referring now to the drawings, there is shown an upright 5, having vertically spaced slots 15 therethrough, in which are secured the ends 6 of laterally-p1 ojecting arms 16 and 17 by means of pins 18 passed through alining perforations 18, formed in the post at the sides of the slots. The. arms 16 and 17 are each provided with a series of perforations, through which. are passed pins 8 fOIv p rposes to be presently described.

' Between the slots 15jare a pair of slots 9 and 10, between which is the central portion 11: of the upright. In the slots 9 and 10,

Fig. 3 is a section on line 3 3'- the twisting operation isv repeated.

taching barb or other strand wires to the against the upper and lower faces, respectively, of the central portion 11, are disposed ends 12 and 13 of a yoke 23, having shoulders 31, which bear against the rearward face 11 of the portion 11. The slot 10 receives slidably therein a rack-bar 20, having a link 22 at its forward end for the attachment of a wire 28, and this rack-bar 20 is engaged by a pawl 29, pivoted within the slot 10, so as to allow of rearward movement of the bar. This pawl 29 has a finger 29 extending outwardly of the slot 10, by means of which the pawl may be disengaged from the rack-bar.

To move the rack-bar within the slot 10,

there is pivoted in the yoke 23 a lever 24, which has pivoted at its lower end a pawl 27 for engagement of the rack-teeth and which may be moved out of engagement with the teeth by means of a rod 26 and hand-lever 27, as shown. 1 r

In constructing a fence-with the present apparatus the posts are planted in the ground in the customary manner and the upright 5 is planted in the ground in a line with the posts. A brace 9, which is pivoted to the upright above the arm 16, is engaged with the last post to prevent tilting of the upright,

Panels or pickets are now engaged between the wires of each pair, and the wires are then given a single twist, after which another picket 1s engaged 1n a similar manner, and I In atject of this being to permit of removal of the arms therefrom to allow of vertical adjustment of the wire-stretching mechanism, the solid portions of the uprights between the slots 9, 10, and 15 being substantially the same in Width to receive the bracket 23.

It will thus be seen that there is provided a fence-building machine which may be used for constructing either kind of fence as mentioned above and Which may be used for constructing a combination-fence. This result is obtained by the arrangement of the post, which makes possible the use of the wire stretching and attaching mechanism in connection therewith.

The slots 15 and the intervening solid portions are of the same size, and there is thus provided a post which is so constructed that the wire-stretching mechanism-may be moved vertically thereof to permit of attachment of wires at different points vertically of the fence.

In practice modifications of the specific construction may be made and any suitable material may be used without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is 1. In a fence-building apparatus, the combination with a post having openings therethrough and intervening solid portions, of Wirestretching mechanism comprising a bracket including spaced legs engaged with the solid portions, a hand lever pivoted in the bracket, a dog carried by the hand-lever, a ratchet-bar adapted for engagement with the opening below the bracket and adapted for ati tachment of a wire to one of its ends, said dog being adapted to engage the teeth of the rackbar to move it through the opening to place tension upon the wire, and a dog pivoted in the opening and lying in engagement with the teeth of the rack-bar to hold it against movement under tension of the wire.

2. A wire-stretcher comprising a post having openings thcrethrough and intervening solid portions, said openings having alining perforations in the sides thereof, a bracketincluding spaced legs engaged with one of the solid portions, a hand-lever pivoted in the bracket, a dog carried by the hand-lever, a ratchet-bar disposed in the opening below the bracket and adapted for the attachment of a wire to one of its ends, said dog being adapted to engage the teeth of the bar and to move it in one direction through the opening to place the wire under tension, a pin disposed in the alining perforations in the sides of the opening, and a pawl pivoted upon thepin and lying in engagement with the teeth of the ratchet-bar to hold it against movement under tension of the wire, said wire-stretching mechanism being adapted for engagement with the remaining openings and intervening solid portions interchangeably.

In testimony whereof we aifix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

VVILLIAH F. LINDSEY. IVILLIAM. H. FIVNLEY. Vitnesses:

J. T. KDIBALL, R. C. BARITAUS. 

